Sprint Planning — Agile Techniques Library

What it is

Sprint Planning kicks off every sprint and is time-boxed to a maximum of two hours per week of sprint duration. The entire Scrum Team participates. The event answers two questions: what can be delivered, and how will the work be done? The Product Owner proposes the highest-priority Product Backlog items. The Developers examine capacity, past velocity, and complexity to determine what is realistic. During the second part, Developers break down selected items into tasks for the Sprint Backlog.

Time-box reminder: For a two-week sprint, Sprint Planning should not exceed four hours. The Scrum Master keeps the team honest about this limit.

When to use it

At the start of every sprint
When stakeholder visibility is required
When working within funded programme increments
When the team needs shared commitment and clarity

Tip: Even Kanban teams benefit from a lightweight planning session when starting a new workstream or milestone.

Key concepts

Sprint Goal

A short, shared objective that gives the sprint coherence. It explains why the sprint is valuable and helps the team make trade-off decisions during the sprint.

Capacity Planning

Accounting for leave, holidays, other commitments, and non-sprint obligations. In New Zealand this includes public holidays, regional anniversary days, and seasonal leave patterns.

Task Breakdown

Decomposing stories into actionable tasks. Tasks should be small enough to complete within a day and clearly owned by the Developers doing the work.

Commitment vs Forecast

The team commits to the Sprint Goal, not every task. The Sprint Backlog is a forecast of the work needed to meet that goal, and it can change as the team learns more during the sprint.

Common pitfalls

Treating it as a status meeting
Setting a Sprint Goal that is just a list of stories
Overcommitting based on pressure
Ignoring team capacity
Skipping task breakdown

Watch out: When a Sprint Goal is just "complete these five stories," the team loses the ability to negotiate scope if obstacles arise.

NZ context

In NZ government digital projects, Sprint Planning often aligns with broader programme governance and assurance milestones. Clear Sprint Goals are especially important for demonstrating incremental value to stakeholders.

Career level guidance

Level	Role during Sprint Planning
Grad	Listen actively, ask clarifying questions, and volunteer for well-defined tasks within your skill area.
Junior	Contribute to task breakdown, estimate with the team, and flag risks or dependencies you foresee.
Senior	Lead technical discussion, coach others on estimation, and help shape the Sprint Goal.
Test Lead	Facilitate the session, challenge scope when quality is at risk, and ensure testing effort is visible in the plan.